Eleanor Heck
1953 – 2025
Eleanor Heck, of Lawrenceville, passed away on Sunday, June 22, 2025 at the age of 71.
Eleanor was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up there and in Maplewood, New Jersey, where she graduated from Columbia High School in 1971. She attended George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., where her lifelong love of the theater was seen in her work as an usher at Washington’s Kennedy Center. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from George Washington University in 1975, majoring in dramatic arts.
Continuing in the theater world, Eleanor studied for a Master of Arts degree at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Theater Arts from 1976-1978. She worked there as a teaching assistant. Her earliest post-graduate jobs were as a manager at professional opera and theater companies.
Eleanor then pivoted to the legal profession. She attended Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, and received her Juris Doctor award, with high honors, in 1991. She was a member of the staff of the Rutgers Law Journal and served as its Articles Editor 1990-1991. She clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Clifford 1991-1992.
Most of Eleanor’s legal career was in service to the people of New Jersey, at the New Jersey Attorney General’s office. She became a distinguished and widely respected attorney there, serving as a Deputy Attorney General.
Eleanor was a long-time member of Young Israel of Lawrenceville. The congregation became her second family, and she was a faithful and dedicated member of that community.
Eleanor is survived by her sister Caroline Heck Miller, brother Robert Heck, nephews Noah Heck, Kalling Heck (Mary Clinkenbeard) and Daniel Heck (Betsy Scherer), niece Prudence Heck Mazur (Justin Mazur), grand-niece Freyja Heck Mazur and grand-nephews William Heck Mazur and Eli Heck.
Funeral services are Tuesday, June 24 at 10:00am at Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ. Burial will follow at Floral Park Cemetery in South Brunswick, NJ.
The Heck family has my condolence. Ms. Heck was a pleasure to work with and she was a true service to the state of New Jersey. wonderful colleague and attorney.
I worked with eleanor. I am sorry to hear of her passing. She was always a professional and nice person
I will really miss Eleanor and I offer my sincere condolences. She was so smart and accomplished and I adored her. My sincere condolences to her family and friends. Knowing her even for a short time was a gift.
My husband Bruce and I are sending our thoughts to all who were lucky in having Eleanor in their lives. Our most fervent wishes are for comfort for her loved ones and to all of the congregants of Young Israel in Lawrenceville, NJ., where she was a very special person, witty and ever so intelligent. As we mourn Eleanor’s passing, may it be for a blessing. Lydia and Dr. Bruce Bitcover
I worked with Eleanor for many years. She was always such a great person. My sincere condolences go out to her family and friends. She will be missed.
My condolences to Eleanor’s family and friends. I am sorry she didn’t have more time to enjoy her retirement with you.
I just learned of her passing because I retired from the DOL a few months before she did. Although we didn’t work in the same group, our offices were often near each other and she was so warm and outgoing that she was often the first person to greet me when I arrived and the last to say goodbye in the evening. I enjoyed our occasional conversations and only wish I had had an opportunity to know her better.
Eleanor and I were law school classmates and I remember her well. I am very sorry to hear of her passing and extend my deepest condolences to all family and friends who cherish her memory.
I was so sorry to learn of Eleanor’s passing last month. What a wonderful person and colleague. I had the pleasure of working with Eleanor during the Whitman Administration. She was always so professional, funny, and kind. A great loss for her family, friends, and the State of New Jersey.